Traditional designs for personal computers have evolved from the ‘standard’ personal computer, exemplified by the IBM-AT, to small form-factor PCs such as the e-PC manufactured by Hewlett Packard Company. This design development has resulted in many innovative and creative designs solutions reflecting the acceptance of such hardware in the business and home environment. This evolution in design has also been influenced by aesthetic considerations which were previously considered secondary to the basic task of housing the internal computer hardware in a functional casing unit.
Early types of personal computers were generally characterized by a horizontally mounted motherboards resulting in a quite low case profile with a relatively large footprint. This was necessitated by the PC case needing to be sufficiently large to accommodate motherboard, disk drives, power supplies etc. Early expansion board topologies reinforced the popularity of this type of case construction. However such designs consumed a significant amount of desk or floor space and a number of design solutions were proposed to reduce the PC footprint.
Early adaptations of known PC designs aimed at reducing the PC footprint included mounting the PC case on its side. Such solutions often involved simply tilting a standard PC on its edge, or constructing the case and chassis in a vertical orientation. Designs of the latter type are referred to as ‘tower’ configurations and sometimes involve the redesign of the computers internal hardware topology to accommodate this orientation.
A common problem with such configurations is that upright or slim line computer cases can be unstable and prone to tipping over. This is particularly so when the computer is located on the floor or perhaps where additional hardware components, for example external disk drives etc, are located on top of the computer case.
Early simple solutions included providing a separate resilient plastic ‘foot’ device in the form of a cradle into which the edge-mounted PC case could be slid. Such designs are not ideal as PC cases come in a variety of dimensions and not all feet can accommodate every model of PC. Other solutions include integrally molding into the base of the tower case, an outwardly oriented flange or rim. Others include incorporating molded or extruded rails mounted along the edge of the computer casing to extend the footprint slightly. Such methods can increase the footprint and improve stability. However, they may not be ideal as they often do not provide sufficient stability and flexibility in terms of operating functions (cooling etc). These modifications can also interfere with aesthetic aspects or the casing as well as hamper the ability to quickly and easily re-orient the computer in a horizontal or vertical position.
More recent solutions include stabilizer constructions in the form of a casing-wall section which, when rotated, extends the casing face outwardly forming a flat “foot” protruding from either side of the machine. This configuration leaves the computer case flush with the floor or desktop and requires significant engineering to incorporate the pivoting foot into the casing wall. Further, the construction of this type of foot is such that its' width (in the lateral direction of the PC case), is approximately the same as the height of the PC case when the case is lying flat. This width does not contribute to the stability of the PC case when the foot is extended and may complicate the internal construction of the case. Such a construction may also be problematic in situations where cooling vents or intakes would be obscured when the PC is mounted in the upright or vertical position with the foot extended. The foot construction described above does not allow through-wall cooling of components located adjacent the lower PC case wall.
Very small footprint PCs such as the e-PC manufactured by Hewlett Packard Company, are constructed with a relatively flat profile and can be oriented vertically or horizontally. The stability of such computers can be enhanced with careful distribution of weight via component location within the casing. However it remains desirable to augment the stability of such computer form-factors with additional stabilizing devices. As noted above, separate foot components may be used, however these can suffer the same drawbacks as for PCs with conventional dimensions.
It is an object of the present invention to provide for a means and device for stabilizing a PC or computer equipment which is aesthetically pleasing, non-intrusive, compact, solid, easy to retract/extend and which allows through-wall cooling through the underside of the vertically mounted computer or hardware component casing.